Published 10:00 pm, Monday, April 23, 2007

Hernandez's move was retroactive to April 19, meaning he'll return to the rotation on May 4 in time to start against the New York Yankees in Yankee Stadium at the start of Seattle's next road trip.

Hernandez said he'll be limited to 85 pitches in his first start back, then will be turned loose if all goes well.

Hernandez played catch Monday afternoon under the eye of trainer Rick Griffin and manager Mike Hargrove and didn't experience any problems, but the Mariners decided it made the most sense not to rush his return.

If he pitches on May 4, he will have missed two starts after straining a muscle in his right forearm during an aborted effort against the Minnesota Twins last Thursday.

"We had already targeted May 4 for his next start," general manager Bill Bavasi said. "We asked Rick (Griffin) how much we could accelerate that safely and the best-case scenario was May 2. So we decided that's not worth it."

Hargrove said Hernandez looked fine in his eight-minute throwing session in the outfield at Rangers Ballpark. He's scheduled to play catch again today and Wednesday, then have several bullpen sessions before his next start.

"He didn't have any pain," Hargrove said. "He was a little tentative at first, which is probably understandable. But once he got into it, he was fine."

Hernandez said he threw at about 50 percent velocity and admitted to being nervous about the session.

"I felt no pain in the elbow, so I'm real happy," he said. "It's more fun to pitch than do nothing."

HOOK ON WEAVER: Jeff Weaver's three-inning start in Sunday's 6-1 road loss to the Los Angeles Angels led to a clubhouse chat between the veteran pitcher and Hargrove before Monday's game.

Hargrove, whose style normally is to give players plenty of time to work through struggles, pulled Weaver with a 3-0 deficit after just 68 pitches.

Weaver, 0-3 with a 13.91 ERA, said Monday he believed "that was the best I've thrown all year" and wanted to clarify his status with the skipper.

"We both just wanted to find out the reasoning behind it," Weaver said. "We both got our say, we both understand each other's views and we'll move on. There's no issue.

"I've been around long enough and understand when things are done not just because of how you feel about someone but just to light a fire under the team or make a change to get things switched up and hopefully moving in the right direction.

"He told me it had nothing to do with me, it just happened to be the game I was pitching where he felt he wanted to make a change to try to get the team to head in a better direction."

Hargrove acknowledged his unusually quick move to the bullpen had much to do with the team's recent woes. Obviously, the manager had seen enough of his struggling starters.

"The fact that going into yesterday's game we'd lost five in a row precipitated a little bit of the quicker hook," said Hargrove, noting he didn't want to put his team into another position in which a late-game comeback couldn't overcome a rough early start.

Hargrove said Weaver will make his next start Friday at Safeco Field against Kansas City.

"There are some things we need him to work on, which from my understanding he's committed to," Hargrove said. "Nothing drastic, nothing dramatic, and we'll see where it goes."

As for Weaver, he said Sunday's game was more a matter of misfortune than missed pitches.

"I just had some bad luck with balls put in play," said Weaver, who surrendered seven hits. "That's the pitching style I'm about. Put the ball in play. It's just unfortunate they weren't hit at gloves."

The man who signed a one-year, $8.25 million contract after winning Game 7 of the World Series with St. Louis preached patience. He has no other choice.

"It's three starts into the season. You've got 30 more to go," Weaver said. "It's a tough start, but it's been tough for all of us, with the weather and travel and everything else. All of us are definitely continuing to work hard and trying to make good.

"Hopefully we'll get these out of our system early and continue to build as a team and get some good things going our way."

OVER-EXTENDING? A Seattle Times blog mention of a rumor that Bavasi has quietly given a contract extension to Hargrove drew neither confirmation nor denial from several Mariners front office officials Monday, including Bavasi himself.

"I have a long streak that I'm going to keep intact," said Bavasi, who is traveling with the team. "I never talk about employee's contracts."

The Mariners will only say that Hargrove initially signed a three-year contract and they have nothing new to report. Hargrove is in his third season in Seattle, having gone 69-93 and 78-84 before this year's slow start.

EXTRA BASES: Catcher Kenji Johjima sat out his second consecutive game with a bruised calf Monday and is questionable again for today's 11:05 a.m. start in Texas. "It's day to day," Hargrove said. "He's still a little stiff." ... Texas placed closer Eric Gagne on the disabled list with a strained hip and recalled veteran right-hander Frank Francisco. Gagne, attempting to come back after two years of back and elbow problems, injured himself while going for the save in Sunday's victory over Oakland. ... Shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt's walk in the fourth inning was his first base on balls of the year. The Mariners rank last in the major leagues in walks.